Intrusion testing

To stop a hacker before he even thinks about getting into the target system, an IT system administrator has to try to get into the system himself using the same techniques that a hacker would use. It may seem a bit strange at first to consider hiring someone to hack into your system, but it is the only way to learn whether you are truly secure.

What is it?

Intrusion testing for IT systems is also sometimes called pentesting, security testing, or penetration testing. The purpose behind it is to scan the system for vulnerabilities, such as security holes, open ports, and other issues with the security of the network or system.

Professionals in the field of intrusion testing look for and try to exploit the systems that they are hired to test. In doing this, they behave very much like a hacker in a real-world scenario, but the benefit here is that people who do this type of work legally often have access to more reliable research and tools than your everyday hacker would have. This means that their combined knowledge of system flaws and weaknesses is usually far greater than the single hacker attacking a system, which allows them the professionals to look for a wide variety of possible weaknesses.

One popular tool for this type of testing is called Kali Linux and it is a full-featured and open-source solution capable of finding and exploiting vulnerabilities within a system’s security. As with all things, however, there is quite a steep learning curve associated with a platform such as Kali, and we do not suggest that those with little or no experience in this field, put all of their trust in one place. It is a tool which requires special knowledge to use, and it is best to find an organization that possesses the required know-how. We, at Holm Security, provides round-the-clock assistance that companies dealing with sensitive data often require.

Why is it important?

Intrusion testing is extremely important in this day and age, and is becoming more so as times progress. As technology advances and as our dependencies on the networks and systems that companies use continue to become more advanced, so do the types of risks.

Some reports say that nearly ninety percent of websites that deal in commerce have, at some point, been hacked or compromised in some other way. That number may seem surprising, but the truth is methods of cybercrime develop just as fast as or faster than those of cyber security. For that reason, it is absolutely necessary for companies that take themselves and their customers, products, and services seriously to take a hands-on and aggressive approach to their own security.

New ways of breaking into systems are found all the time, and with an active and aggressive approach to finding holes and plugging them, a system administrator can stay a step ahead of the hackers looking to take advantage of their vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

It goes without saying that when you have content that needs to be protected, you need to know that whatever it is that you are doing is going to be effective.

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